Apple's Shazam Acquisition Set to Gain European Approval - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple's Shazam Acquisition Set to Gain European Approval

European Commission antitrust regulators are set to approve Apple's acquisition of music discovery service Shazam with no conditions, reports Reuters.

Apple announced its planned acquisition of Shazam in December, but the deal has yet to be completed due to an ongoing EU investigation.

shazam iphone x
Regulators were worried that the merger between the two companies would provide Apple with a wealth of data that could allow it to target its competitors' customers, ultimately resulting in fewer music streaming options for European citizens.

There were also concerns that Apple would disallow Shazam from referring EU customers to Shazam's rivals, such as Spotify. At the current time, Shazam can be connected to either Apple Music or Spotify, allowing Shazamed songs to be opened in either service.

While European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso declined to comment at this time, a final decision on the acquisition is expected on September 18. Once approved, Apple will be able to finalize the deal and complete the Shazam purchase.

Shazam, for those unfamiliar with the service, is a cross-platform app designed to identify music, TV shows, and more. It has been baked into Apple devices as part of Siri for several years now, and it's what powers Siri's ability to answer questions like "What song is this?" Shazam also offers apps for iOS devices, Android devices, Macs, and PCs.

When announcing the acquisition of Shazam, Apple said that it had "exciting plans in store," but declined to provide further information on how the Shazam service would be used.

Popular Stories

General Apps Reddit Feature

Reddit Starts Blocking Mobile Website, Pushing Users to App Instead

Monday May 11, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
Social network Reddit recently began blocking mobile visitors to its website while pushing them to download the official Reddit app, and it's fair to say that the move is not going down well with users. If you visit reddit.com on your iPhone today, you may see a new popup that can't be dismissed, asking you to "get the app to keep using Reddit." A Reddit spokesperson told Ars Technica...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 With End-to-End Encrypted RCS, New Wallpaper, and Maps Updates

Monday May 11, 2026 10:06 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5, the newest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems. The software comes nearly two months after Apple released iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 15.8.8, iOS 16.7.16, iOS 18.7.9, and...

Top Rated Comments

101 months ago
Yet another company Apple buys that won't actually be used to improve their software.
Just going through the last 5/6 years of Apple acquisitions, it looks like they do tend to actually use them to improve their software.

InVisage Technologies - Face ID
Faceshift - Face ID
PrimeSense - Face ID
Perceptio - Face ID/Photos
init.ai - Business Chat
Workflow - Shortcuts
Gliimpse - Health tracking/ResearchKit
VocalIQ - Siri
Mapsense - Maps
Coherent Navigation - Maps
Embark - Maps
LinX - Camera
Beats Electronics - Apple Music
Swell - Apple Music
Chomp - App Store
AuthenTec - Touch ID
LearnSprout - Apple education apps

Not including the AI, Security, ML and AR acquisitions.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
101 months ago
If this leads to a dedicated Shazam button in the Control Center I will be very happy.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
101 months ago
Yet another company Apple buys that won't actually be used to improve their software.
You mean like how they acquired the Workflow app and have now turned it into the Shortcuts app, a key part of allowing people to leverage much more powerful commands and workflows with Siri in iOS 12?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alpi123 Avatar
101 months ago
Still no idea why Apple didn't grab SoundHound instead, much better app, and recognizes more things than Shazam ever did for me.
Just downloaded and tried it - it's very slow compared to Shazam. Plus, for the songs I tried, I didn't see the album artworks - just the singer and the song name. Maybe I have to give it some time but I don't plan on replacing Shazam.

Can SoundHound record the music while offline and search for it when you connect to a network?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
101 months ago
You can simply ask Siri who is playing also. That's most likely where we'll see the integration. I doubt we'll see a dedicated button for it.
Asking Siri just adds a few seconds to the process when seconds actually count. It's frustrating having Shazam kick-in just as a song ends.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
101 months ago
If this leads to a dedicated Shazam button in the Control Center I will be very happy.
You can simply ask Siri who is playing also. That's most likely where we'll see the integration. I doubt we'll see a dedicated button for it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)